The only major activity planned for the Big
Trip was trekking in Nepal. When we arrived in Kathmandu we were
immediately approached by someone offering treks, and against all of
our normal traveling principles, we ended up taking our trip with them.
For $270 each they arranged bus transportation to Pokhara, one night
in a hotel there, and then all 12 days of the trek, and one last night
in the same hotel. This included the guide (also carrying most of our
stuff), three meals a day, accommodation, entry fees, permits, etc.
That’s $22.50 a day, which is pretty good. You can do it cheaper
yourself, but now everyone who treks needs to have a guide. We think we
got a pretty good deal, and we’d recommend the company. Drop us a line
if you would like information about them.
Leaving Kathmandu
Our guide met us at our guesthouse in Kathmandu and rode to Pokhara
with us. On the trip Val and I weren’t sure if he understood English
very well, and we started to worry. We kind of had lots of questions
for him. When we got to Pokhara and made sure we had everything we
needed, we realized he did not understand English and so we called the
trekking agency and ended up with a new guide. It wasn’t necessarily
the outcome we wanted, but it worked out for the best I think.
Day 1 - Pokhara to Hille
Our new guide Rob met us in the morning and we took a taxi to a
place called Birethani. From there we started our 12 day trek. We met
the Maoists almost immediately. Rob told them we were only going out
for 5 days, so they charged us 100 rupees per day each, a total of 1000
rupees ($14). They weren’t rude or anything, and of course they gave us
a receipt. To learn more about the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, go here.
We only walked for a few hours before we got to Hille. It was a
gentle climb on paths frequented by donkeys, ponies, porters, locals,
all kinds of people. The first thing you realize about the trail is
that it is not like hiking in the woods. The valley was beautiful -
lush and green, with heavily terraced slopes growing millet and
potatoes.
The guesthouse in Hille was fairly rustic, with no electricity. Rob told us this would be the only place without it.
Day 2 - Hille to Ghorepani
After the easy first day, the climb to Ghorepani was very difficult.
There were 3,200 steps up before lunch, and after that even though the
steps were finished it was tough. We arrived in Ghorepani completely
exhausted after about six hours of climbing up. It was much colder up
there, and the guesthouse had a big fireplace in the dining hall.
Day 3 - Poon Hill and Ghorepani to Sikha
We woke up before 5am to climb to the top of Poon Hill, at 3,210
meters (10,530 feet), and watch the sunrise. The lookout point there
has an amazing panoramic view of the Annapurna range. The hike up was
tough, especially after the hard climb to Ghorepani the previous day.
We didn’t quite make the sunrise, but the view was spectacular
nonetheless. About 100 other trekkers were on the hill enjoying the
sunrise and taking pictures.
After walking down and then eating a quick breakfast, we set out for
the day. Our original plan was to go all the way back down to 1,190
meters (3,904 feet) to Tatopani. Rob thought we wouldn’t make the climb
down after such a hard climb up the day before. Going down is harder
than going up sometimes, making your knees and toes hurt.
We decided to only go halfway to a place called Sikha. It’s at 1,935
meters (6,350 ft). We had an excellent view of Daulaghiri from our
window, the fifth highest mountain in the world.
Day 4 - Sikha to Tatopani
The walk down to Tatopani was relatively easy, and we arrived in the
early afternoon. There’s a hot spring in Tatopani that most trekkers
enjoy after coming down the way we were going up. It was like an onsen
in Japan, very hot and relaxing.
The food in Tatopani is almost like it is in Pokhara, and they even had Mexican food on the menu.
Day 5 - Tatopani to Ghasa
After two short days of walking down, we had a full day of climbing
up. We went from 1,190 meters to just below 2,000 (6,560 ft). We had
lunch right next to a beautiful waterfall. They were doing road
construction there, and every time someone wanted to walk down the
trail by the waterfall, someone would whistle and they’d stop throwing
huge boulders down by the trail into the river.
Day 6 - Ghasa to Tukuche
We went up another 600 meters to Tukuche. It’s on the edge of high
desert plains that are similar to the Tibetan Plateau. The stark
landscape with tall mountains in the distance is stunning.
Day 7 - Tukuche to Kagbeni
The walk from Tukuche to Kagbeni only took us up another 200 meters
to 2800 (9,280 ft). It was mostly level ground taking us across the
windswept plains.
Day 8 - Kagbeni to Kagbeni
This was the day we were supposed to go up to Muktinath, at 3,800
meters (12,450 ft). The thing was we also had to come back down that
day. The plan was to go up in the morning (4 hour climb), hang out
there for two hours, then come back down (3 hour climb). And then walk
6 hours the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next. We
asked Rob what he thought we should do. He said, “How can I tell you?”
We asked him if the view was better up there, and he said, “It is
same.” We asked him if the Buddhist monastery was better up there, and
he said, “But there is monastery in Kagbeni.”
“So should we go to Muktinath or stay in Kagbeni?”
“How can I tell you?”
We stayed in Kagbeni. We visited the monastery and walked around the
town. It used to be an important Tibetan trading town. There are lots
of small covered alleyways in the old quarter to protect the
inhabitants from the stiff wind that blows in the afternoon.
Day 9 - Kagbeni to Larjung
After our rest day in Kagbeni, we turned around and started heading
back down. We didn’t push as far as we could have in order to avoid the
cold wind that blows in the valley. We appreciated some really nice
mountain views on the way down, knowing we wouldn’t have much longer to
enjoy them.
Day 10 - Larjung to Dana
The longest day, and hardest since our second day climb up to
Ghorepani, was the hike down to Dana. Not only was it long, but the
second half was a fairly steep descent. When we went past the sections
of trail that were almost out a few days before, they were even worse.
At several points there was no trail, just a mound of dirt descending
hundreds of feet down to the river below. We had to lean close to the
mountain and walk quickly across the loose dirt, always with dozens of
Nepalese workers watching.
Day 11 - Dana to Tatopani
We pushed ourselves the day before so that we could have an easy
walk down to Tatopani. The first time through the weather had been
beautiful and sunny, so we thought we’d have all day by the nice river
and hot springs. When we woke up it was raining, so we waited until
about noon before setting out. The trail was muddy and slippery,
forcing us to walk slowly. When we arrived in Tatopani after about two
hours, we warmed up for a while before heading down to the hot springs.
Day 12 - Tatopani to Beni
Rob told us about a way to get to Beni without walking for four
hours, so we got a jeep after a two hour hike. The trail was still
really muddy and dangerous. The donkey and pony traffic was heavy, and
at one point several of them got scared and almost pushed us off the
trail into the gorge. A packed four wheel drive took us to Beni in
about an hour and a half. Rob even negotiated the front seat for the
two of us, making the rough ride a little more comfortable. From Beni
the bus to Pokhara took about five hours. It’s amazing that they can
even drive a bus on some of those roads. Sometimes it’s best not to
watch what’s going on!
In Summation
Our twelve day trek was incredible. Except for having to switch
guides at the very beginning, everything went perfectly. Our trek is
called the Jomsom Trek, because the main town you pass through is a
place called Jomsom. We didn’t make it to Muktinath, mostly because we
aren’t in the kind of shape you really should be in to do something
like trek in Nepal. If we were only visiting Nepal, we would have been
training for our trek months in advance, getting in shape, walking a
lot, breaking in our hiking boots. Instead we’ve been on the road for
three months, where it’s hard to get real exercise. We had to buy new
boots in Kathmandu, and we both ended up with bad blisters around day
8.
If you are at all interested in visiting Nepal and taking a long
walk through the Himalayas, I’d highly recommend it. Nepal is a cheap
country, and if you take care of everything here, you are looking at
around $25 a day for trekking with a guide. Many people we saw were
doing the Annapurna Circuit. It takes about three weeks, and takes you
over the largest pass in the world, the Thorang La. We knew we weren’t
in good enough shape to attempt it this time through, so we went with
the shorter, lower altitude Jomsom trip.
We did, however, go hiking in the deepest valley in the world. And
we saw lots of amazing things. The fifth highest mountain in the world
was in view for several days. The treks in the Annapurna region are all
culturally interesting because you walk along very old roads in use by
the locals for a very long time. We met other trekkers from around the
world, some really nice Nepali people, and had a very memorable time.
We’re already planning our next trek…
